Chenille yarn fabricating apparatus

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING CHENILLE YARN EMPLOYS A RECIPROCATING INNER DIE HAVING AT LEAST ONE YARN CORD PASSING THERETHROUGH. AN OUTER GUIDE ROTATES ABOUT THE INNER GUIDE AND CONTINUOUSLY WRAPS A FILL THREAD THEREAROUND THE FORMED FILL LOOPS BEING PERIODICALLY SEVERED BY A CAM ACTUATED KNIFE ELEMENT. TAKE-UP APPARATUS IS PROVIDED TO TWIST TWO CHENILLE YARN CORDS DURING A COLLECTION OPERATION, WITH THE TWISTED CORDS FORMING LOOPS WHICH ENTRAP THE SEVERED, HALF-TURN FILL LOOPS.

Dec. 14, 1971 M. SCHWARTZ 3,626,679

CHENILLE YARN FABRICATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 30, 1969 v I2 Shocts5hout1 INVENTOR. lmre Mew Schwartz FIG. 3

TTNEYS 1971 M. SCHWARTZ CHENILLE YARN FABRICATING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 30, 1969 BY AQW United States Patent 3,626,679CHENILLE YARN FABRICATING APPARATUS Imre Meir Schwartz, 566 Broadway,Paterson, NJ. 07514 Filed Oct. 30, 1969, Ser. No. 872,640 Int. Cl. D02g3/42 US. Cl. 57-24 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus forfabricating chenille yarn employs a reciprocating inner die having atleast one yarn cord passing therethrough. An outer guide rotates aboutthe inner guide and continuously wraps a fill thread therearound, theformed fill loops being periodically severed by a cam actuated knifeelement. Take-up apparatus is provided to twist two chenille yarn cordsduring a collection operation, with the twisted cords forming loopswhich entrap the severed, half-turn fill loops.

This invention relates to textile yarn production and more specificallyto apparatus for producing chenille yarn.

Chenille yarn, shown in FIG. 1 in greatly enlarged scale, comprises twotwisted cords 5 and 6 which define the long dimension or length of theyarn. Disposed transverse to the yarn length are a plurality ofrelatively short fill fibers 7 which are entrapped by, and securedwithin the loops of the twisted cords 5 and 6. The fill and cords maycomprise any natural or synthetic material, e.g., silk, cotton, rayon orthe like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved apparatusfor producing chenille yarn.

More specifically, an object of the present invention is the provisionof continuously operative apparatus for reliably producing chenille yarnat a rapid rate of speed, and wherein the yarn configuration (i.e., fillthread per cord loop) may be readily controlled.

It is another object of the present invention to provide chenille yarnfabricating apparatus which may simulta neously produce plural runs ofthe desired yarn.

The above and other objects of the present invention are realized inillustrative chenille yarn fabricating apparatus wherein at least onecord strand passes through an aperture in a central (inner)reciprocating guide member. An outer guide is rotatably driven about theinner guide, and wraps multiple turns of continuous fill thread aboutthe lower periphery of the inner guide. At least one additional cord isdrawn outside of the wrapped fill threads.

The reciprocating inner guide action compacts the multiple fill turns,and a cam actuated reciprocating cutting edge periodically severs thefill turns.

The cord strands are twisted and gathered by a rotating pick-up spooland attendant drive and collection apparatus. The twisted, formed cordloops entrap and carry off the severed fill pieces, thus completing theyarn manufacturing operation.

The size of the cord loops may be controlled by adjusting the speed ofthe take-up apparatus. The number of fill cords in each loop may bevaried by effecting an appropriate adjustment of the rotating outerguide speed relative to that of the take-up apparatus.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention are realized in a specific, illustra tive embodiment thereof,described hereinbelow in conjunction with the accompanying drawing inwhich:

FIG. 1 (prior art) depicts chenille yarn as above discussed;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of chenille yarn producing apparatusembodying the principles of the present invention; and

ice

FIG. 3 is a partial orthogonal view of the apparatus depicted in FIG. 2more fully illustrating selected subassemblies of the FIG. 2arrangement;

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown chenille yarn fabricatingapparatus including a support frame 10 illustrated in pertinent partonly for clarity. A sleeve bushing 18 is mounted on the frame 10, and aninner guide 12 is adapted to vertically reciprocate within the sleeve18. The inner guide 12 includes two longitudinal, vertical apertures forpassing two cord thread strands 27 and 29 from spools 2'6 and 28,respectively, which are mounted on the frame 10, and further includes atapered and elongated lower portion 15 having planar lower side walls15a and 1512.

An outer (fill thread) guide 30 is mounted as by antifriction rollerbearings 32 and 34 for rotation about the inner guide 12. The outerguide 30 is rotatably driven, as by a belt and sprocket 40- and suitablegearing apparatus 41 which are coupled to a rotating drive shaft 45.

An antifriction bearing 50 is attached to the sleeve bushing 18. Theouter race of the bearing 50 supports on its outer periphery a spool 52containing a fill thread 55 which, as discussed below, is transformed bythe apparatus of FIGS. 2 and 3 to comprise the short fill pieces 7 ofthe chenille yarn. The fill thread 55 passes through apertures in theinner race of the bearings 32 and 34; through an aperture in the drivecoupling 40; and through a guide eyelet 56 mounted on the guide 30. Thethread 55 is wrapped around the lower faces 15a and 15b of the innerguide 12 as the guide 30 is driven around the guide 12.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus ofFIGS. 2 and 3 is adapted to simultaneously fabricate two (or more) runsof chenille yarn, one yarn run comprising the cords 27 and 61 (fromspools 26 and 60 respectively), and the second chenille run comprisingthe cords 29 and 63 (from spools 28 and 62). The runs are respectivelycollected on take-up spools 82 and 84 included in composite take-upapparatus 81. Accordingly, the cords 27 and 29 pass through aperturesinside the inner guide 12, and thereby also inside the fill 55 loopscoiled on the lower guide portion 15, while the cords 61 and 63- passover idling rollers and 72 about the outside of the coiled fill thread.

An inclined knife blade is employed to periodically sever the fill 55coiled about the lower guide portion 15, as by having the upper activecutting surface of the blade 80 effectively move vertically (andlaterally) upward abutting the guide face 15a. To this end, a curved cammember 86 is eccentrically secured to the drive shaft 45 and an arm 82',having the knife 80 at one end thereof, is pressed against the cam 86 asby a spring 85. The arm is secured for sliding translation to the framemember 10 (as by a sleeve bushing, sliding channel or the like). Theknife 80 is thus adapted to sever the coil 55 into plural half-looplength pieces when the long diameter of the cam 86 is periodicallyoriented towards the guide 12 (and when the reciprocating guide 12. isin appropriate, corresponding vertical orientation, the relative timingbeing adjusted by controlling the angular relationship between cams 86and 88).

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the coiledfill 55 wrapped on the guide portion 15 may advantageously be verticallycompacted before the fill is severed by the knife 80 to effect a tightor dense chenille yarn. To accomplish this, the inner guide 12 isvertically reciprocated such that the expanded guide 12 shoulder portion15 above the guide faces 15a and 15b periodically bears downward on thefill loop to vertically compact these loops. The guide 12 isreciprocally driven by a cam arm 24 which is pivotally mounted on theframe 10. The arm 24 bears at one end against the roller 20 secured atopthe guide, the guide 12 being biased upward towards the cam 24 by aspring 25. A cam 88 is eccentrieally secured to the rotating drive shaft45, and a rigid connecting rod 90 is pivotally connected to the cam 88and to the arm 24, as by spherical (ball and socket) bearings 92 and 94.As the cam 88 rotates, the connecting arm 90 pivots the operator arm 24up and down, thereby causing the guide 12 to vertically reciprocatewithin the sleeve 18, hence compacting the coiled fill.

Finally, the take-up apparatus 81, of any well known construction,includes the take-up spools 82 and 84 which are rotated by a drive motor110 acting through a coupling 100. The formed chenille yarn runs aresupplied to the rotating spools 82 and 84 via eyelets 106 and 108 whichmay freely slide about spool apertures in a recip rocating plate 104.The plate 104 vertically translates along the height of the take-upspools 82 and 84 to distribute the newly formed chenille yarn about thespool to avoid knotting and collapsing problems. As the freely slidingeyelets 106 and 108 orbit about the spools 82 and 84 during the take-upoperation in a manner similar to a ring and traveler system, the pairedcord threads 27-6-1 and 29 63 are continuously twisted to form therequisite loops in the chenille yarn (see FIG. 1). The plate 104 mayillustratively be driven by a reversible motor 98 and screw gear 102,the motor 98 being periodically reversed by limit switches in the knownmanner.

With the above structure in mind, an illustrative sequence of operationfor the dual run chenille yarn fabricating apparatus of FIGS. 2 and 3will now be considered. The drive shaft 45 is continuously rotated bythe motor 110 via the coupling 101. The geared coupling 40- 41 betweenthe shaft 45 and the outer guide 30 is such that the guide 30 makesplural turns about the inner guide 1'2 for each revolution of the shaft45. As the outer guide 30 rotates about the inner guide 12, fill yarn 55is continuously drawn from the spool 52 and translates down through theelements 32, 40, 34 and 56 to be wrapped around the nonrotating lowerguide portion 15. The freely idling spool 52 makes such rotations aboutthe stationary sleeve 18 as are required to release the withdrawn fillthreads, the spool 52 being free to rotate under action of thesupporting antifriction bearing 50. The cam 88 next rotates to aposition where the cam arm 24 forces the guide 12 downward actingagainst the spring 24, the shoulder of the lower guide portion acting tocompact the coiled fill turns. Following this, the cam 86 extends thefollower arm 82 to the left in FIG. 3 while compressing the spring 85,thereby urging the upper edge of the knife 80 against the guide face 15ato sever the greater portion of the coiled fill loops.

During the entire operation, the take-up apparatus 81 collects andtwists the yarn cord pairs 27-61 and 2963. In particular, the rotatingspool 82 and orbiting eyelet 106 on the reciprocating plate 104continuously withdraw the cords 27 and 61 from the spools 26 and 60 andtwist the cords along a gathering length which includes the area aboutthe lower guide 12 portion 15. Similar operation 1s performed by thespool 84 and associated orbiting eyelet 108 to twist the cords 29 and63.

When the fill loops about the guide faces 15a and 15b are severed, themultiple half-turn lengths disposed about the guide face 15b are securedwithin a newly formed twist-loop in the cords '21 and 61 thereby forminga fillloop arrangement as desired for chenille yarn. This newly formedchenille yarn segment is soon gatheredup by the spool 82. Similarly, thehalf-loop fill pieces disposed on the guide face 15a are captured andlocked within a twisted loop and of the cords 29 and 63, and taken up bythe spool 84. In the final portion of an operative cycle, correspondingto one complete rotation of the drive shaft 45, the earns 88 and 86rotate to raise the guide 12 and to withdraw the knife 80, respectively,cooperating with the previously compressed springs and 85.

The above-described cycle of operation is continuously repetitive, andthus the two runs of chenille yarn are continuously fabricated andgathered up on the spools 82 and 84 for any desired end use, e.g.,weaving or knitting for fabrics or the like. Thus, the apparatus ofFIGS. 2 and 3 has been shown by the above to rapidly and reliablyproduce chenille yarn. The configuration of the yarn (number of fillelements per cord loop) may be readily varied by controlling therelationship between the rate of rotation of the outer guide 30(corresponding to the rate at which fill loops are deposited on theguide 15) and the rate of rotation of the take-up spools 82 and 84 whichcontrols the cord twisting (loop formation).

The above-described arrangement is only illustrative of the principlesof the present invention. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereofwill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, thesleeve, bushing 18 may be extended for the greater portion, or all, ofthe length of the guide 12, and the outer guide 40 adapted for rotationabout the extended bushing.

Also, additional runs of chenille yarn may be coincidentally fabricated.In general, to fabricate n coincident runs, n cords are drawn through nlongitudinal apertures in the reciprocating guide 12; n second yarncords (corresponding to the cords 61 and 63) are drawn about the formedfill loops, )1 take-up spools with orbiting eyelets are employed fortwisting and yarn collection; n-1 cutting elements are utilized to severthe fill loops into 11 segments.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination in apparatus for fabricating chenille yarn from firstand second sources of cord threads and from a source of fill thread,said apparatus comprising an inner guide having an aperturetherethrough, said first cord thread passing through said aperture insaid inner guide, means adapted for rotation about said inner guide andfor wrapping said fill thread about said inner guide, means forsupplying said second cord thread about the outside of said wrapped fillthreads, twisting means for twisting said first and second cord threads,means for periodically serving said wrapped filled thread into pluralfill pieces, said severed fill pieces being entrapped by loops in saidtwisted cord threads, said twisting means comprising take-up apparatus,said take-up apparatus comprising a rotating take-up spool, take-upspool, further comprising a plate having an aperorbiting guide means fororbiting about said rotating ture therein for vertically reciprocatingalong said takeup spool, and wherein said orbiting guide means comprisesan eyelet, and mounting means for mounting said eyelet for freetranslation about said aperture in said reciprocating plate.

2. In combination in apparatus for fabricating chenille yarn from firstand second sources of cord threads and from a source of fill thread,said apparatus comprising an inner guide having an aperturetherethrough, said first cord thread passing through said aperture insaid inner guide, means adapted for rotation about said inner guide andfor wrapping said fill thread about said inner guide, means forsupplying said second cord thread about the outside of said wrapped fillthreads, twisting means for twisting said first and second cord threads,and means for periodically severing said wrapped fill thread into pluralfill pieces, said severed fill pieces being entrapped by loops in saidtwisted cord threads, further comprising means for reciprocating saidinner guide, and wherein said inner guide comprises a first portionadapted to receive said wrapped fill thread, and an expanded portiondisposed adjacent said wrapped fill thread receiving portion.

3. A combination as in claim 2 further comprising sleeve means disposedabout said inner guide, and idling rotational means for supporting asource of said fill threads about said sleeve means.

4. A combination as in claim 2 wherein said rotating fill wrapping meanscomprises means adapted for rotation about said guide means,antifriction bearing means for rotationally mounting said rotatingmeans, and aper-- tures in said antifriction bearing means fortranslating said fill thread to said inner guide.

5. A combination as in claim 4 further comprising an idling rollerlocated in the area of said wrapped fill for receiving said second cordthread.

6. A combination as in claim 5 wherein said severing means included acutting edge, and cam means for periodically translating sad cuttingedge into contact with said wrapped fill.

'l'. A combination as in claim 2 for fabricating at least one additionalrun of chenille yarn formed of third and fourth cord threads, furthercomprising at least one addi- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,585,357 5/1'926 Anderson 57--24 1,687,942 10/ 1928 Kriegl 57-24 2,408,8 98 10/ 1946- Wilmsen 5724 2,534,039 12/ 1950 Lemoine 5724 2,551,9865/ 1951 Weller 5724 JOHN PE'IRAKES, Primary Examiner UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 3,52 7 HD'ated {mak r14, 1:11

' Inventor( Imre Meir Schwarts It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 42, "serving" should read *s'eVeri-n gQ --r line 43,"filled" should read fill lines 47 and 48 I should be reversed.

Signed and sealed this..l4th day of November 1972,

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. 1 ROBERT GO'I'TSCHALK Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC wave-P69 fl'll.$. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I969 0-366-334,

